REVERTING to DESPOTISM Human Rights in Haiti
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REVERTING TO DESPOTISM Human Rights in Haiti March 1990 Americas Watch National Coalition for Haitian Refugees Caribbean Rights International Commission of Jurists Embargoed for release March 4,1990 00:01 GMT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......... ............................. i I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 1 II. THE STATE OF S I E G E ................................ 11 A. The Taiwan Trip and its Aftermath................11 B. The Legal Co m po n e n t s .......................... 15 C. Targets....................................... 16 1. The Ecumenical Center for Human Rights ....... 17 2. The Home of Serge Gilles....................21 3. Other Victims.............................24 4. Provincial Attacks ......................... 29 D. Government Statements .......................... 31 E. Reactions.......... .......................... 33 III. POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION OF OPPOSITION GROUPS BEFORE THE STATE OF SIEGE .... 35 A. The Violence of N o v e m b e r ....................... 36 1. Jean-Auguste Mesyeux, Evans Paul and Marineau Etienne................................ 36 2. The Search for Patrick Beauchard and Attacks on the Papaye Peasant Movement .... 44 3. Other Victims of the Crackdown.............. 47 B. Earlier Attacks on Popular Organizations ........ 51 1. The Labadie Youth Movement .................. 52 2. Tet Kole ..................... ........... 55 3. K o m i l f o .................................. 58 4. The National Popular Assembly .............. 60 5. Other Repression of Political and Popular Organizations ........................... 62 C. Attacks on Individual Critics ................... 64 IV. OTHER KILLINGS, "INSECURITY," AND OTHER MILITARY ABUSES UNDER PROSPER AVRIL ................. 65 A. Army Killings..................................67 1. Port-au-Prince.............................68 2. Provincial Cities ......................... 69 3. Rural A r e a s .............................. 69 B. Other Abuses of Military Authority .............. 73 1. Port-au-Prince.............................74 2. Provincial Cities ......................... 75 3. Rural Areas ........................... 76 C. Military Involvement in Common Crime ....... 78 D. Killings by Unidentified Armed Gangs ............ 80 E. Other Violence by Armed Gangs ................. 82 V. ATTACKS ON THE P R E S S ................................ 83 A. The January 1990 C r a c k d o w n ..................... 83 B. The Prelude to the C r a c k d o w n .................... 86 1. The Murder of Jean Wilfrid D e s t i n ..........87 2. Other Threats and Harassment ................ 88 C. The April 1989 Coup A t t e m p t ............... 89 D. Other Attacks on Radio Stations and Journalists .. 90 VI. PRISONS...........................................93 A. The National Penitentiary .................. 94 1. Special Problems of Women at the National Penitentiary ............................ 98 2. Minors in the National Penitentiary.......... 99 3. Slight Improvements........... ............ 100 B. Prisoners at the Investigations and Anti-Gang Service.................................... 101 C. Detention of Returned Boat People.............. 102 D. The Jail at G o n a i v e s ............... ......... 105 E. The Jail at Port-de-Paix..................... 106 F. The Jail at St. Marc ... ..................... 107 VII. GOVERNMENT INACTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS ....... 109 A. The Murder of Yves V o l e l ..................... 110 B. Office for the Protection of the Citizen ...... 114 C. Other Decrees................................ 117 D. Action Against Soldiers Charged with "Insecurity" . 118 VIII. U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY IN H A I T I .................. 123 IX. THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS . 137 A. The U.N. Commission on Human Rights.............. 137 B. The Caribbean Community ........... ........ 145 This is the tenth report on human rights in Haiti issued by Americas Watch and the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees (NCHR) since 1983. It covers events since the issuance of our February 1989 report, The More Things Change...Human Rights in Haiti. Caribbean Rights, a coalition of seven nongovernmental human rights organizations from the Caribbean, joined in issuing that report, and does so again for this one. Joining us for the first time in the issuance of this report is the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), based in Geneva. This report is based on six fact-finding missions to Haiti. Participants in the missions were Mary Jane Camejo, Research Associate of Americas Watch; Adama Dieng, Executive Secretary of the ICJ; Anne Fuller, Associate Director of the NCHR; Jocelyn McCalla, Executive Director of the NCHR; Michael McCormack, Executive Secretary of Caribbean Rights; Kenneth Roth, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, the parent organization of Americas Watch; and Amy Wilentz, a consultant to Americas Watch and the NCHR. This report was written by Mary Jane Camejo, Adama Dieng and Anne Fuller and edited by Jocelyn McCalla and Kenneth Roth. We extend a special thanks to several Haitian human rights organizations for their invaluable assistance: the Ecumenical Center for Human Rights, the Haitian Center for Human Rights, the Haitian Lawyers Committee, the Haitian League for Human Rights and the League of Former Political Prisoners. ***** The National Coalition for Haitian Refugees is comprised of 47 legal, human rights, civil rights, church, labor and Haitian community organizations working together to seek justice for Haitian refugees in the United States and to monitor and promote human rights in Haiti. Its Executive Director is Jocelyn McCalla and its Associate Director is Anne Fuller. Americas Watch was established in 1981 to monitor and promote observance of free expression and other internationally recognized human rights in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The chairman is Adrian W. DeWind and the vice- chairmen are Peter Bell and Stephen Kass. The executive director is Juan E. Mendez and the research director is Anne Manuel. Americas Watch is part of Human Rights Watch, which also includes Africa Watch, Asia Watch, Helsinki Watch and Middle East Watch. Its staff consists of: Aryeh Neier, Executive Director; Kenneth Roth, Deputy Director; Holly Burkhalter, Washington Director; Ellen Lutz, California Director; Susan Osnos, Press Director. Caribbean Rights is composed of human rights organizations from the Bahamas, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, with headquarters in Barbados. Its Chairman is Jean-Claude Bajeux, its Executive Secretary is Michael McCormack, and its Coordinator is Wendy Singh. The International Commission of Jurists is a worldwide organization founded in 1951 to promote and protect internationally the rule of law and human rights. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its chairman is Andres Aguilar; the Chairman of its Executive Committee is William W.J. Butler, and its Secretary General is Niall MacDermot. Copies of this report are available for $10 from: Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017 (212) 972-8400 or The National Coalition for Haitian Refugees 16 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10017 (212) 867-0020 I. INTRODUCTION Four years after a popular uprising brought down the 29-year dictatorship of the Duvalier dynasty, Haiti is once more prisoner of a brutal despot willing to use violence and terror to preserve his rule. Lieutenant General Prosper Avril's January 20, 1990, declaration of a state of siege and his arrest and expulsion of moderate democratic leaders surprised most casual observers of Haiti. In fact, it was the natural culmination of many months of mounting repression directed against grass-roots democratic activists. But by adding well known politicians and civic leaders to his list of victims, General Avril has succeeded in reviving international scrutiny of the island nation. Such scrutiny, and the outrage it will engender, may be the last vehicle for assisting Haiti's long-suffering masses in establishing a government that respects human rights. Compared to his predecessors of the past four years, Avril has been extraordinarily successful at consolidating military power under his command. His personal control over the Presidential Guard, his purge of dissenters in that battalion, his elimination of the only two army units that rivaled it, and his increasing employment of bands of civilian thugs, have shattered the degree of political space and balance that in the past was provided by rival armed groups. Today's army is Avril's army, and it is seemingly united in support of his authoritarian goals. Avril continues to be wise enough to profess a commitment to democratic elections. But he has taken steps to ensure that elections pose no threat to his power, by cracking down on civilian opposition forces, including the crucial independent media. In the countryside, where three-quarters of all Haitians live, militarized sheriffs known as section chiefs, with the central government's backing, have tried to eliminate groups critical of military rule by prohibiting them from meeting and by arresting and beating local activists. In the cities, demonstrations have been all but prohibited, while armed soldiers and plainclothes men have sponsored a wave of random terror and crime. Avril rose to power on September 17, 1988 with the backing of a movement of reform-minded soldiers and non-commissioned officers. He was initially given a cautious welcome by much of the opposition.